I'm Not Nietzsche
by wittywerewolf
Summary: Nietzsche actually doesn't feature largely in this tale, though 'I'm not Nietzsche' becomes one of Ai's favorite phrases. Meanwhile, Kudo realizes the importance of the obvious when it come to romance. Should be mainly ConanAi. On hold.
1. The Last People

Disclaimer: Ah, how I wish I owned Detective Conan… However, despite the random wishes, I do not. /Is mildly depressed/

A/N: Admittedly, this is not my first story on this site(this is simply a new account), and it is most certainly not my first story of any sort. (I'm a published author… That doesn't mean that this is any good. Don't get your hopes up, por favor. /Grins sheepishly/) Anyway, when it comes to fanfiction, the survival of my tales depends greatly on reviews. In other words, please review (topic suggestions are always useful, and I have a deep love of being praised, I must admit.) And so, without further ado, I present the first chapter of "I'm Not Nietzsche."

xXxXxXx

The boy awoke to his torso feeling slightly damp, and rather cold. He reached up, the bedclothes falling from his arm, and lightly touched the edge of his shirt. As he'd expected, it was soaked through with cold sweat. The boy blinked and yawned. His name was Edogawa Conan, and Edogawa Conan was certainly no stranger to nightmares. However, his name was also Kudo Shinichi, and Kudo Shinichi _was _a stranger to nightmares.

Conan sighed and rolled out of bed, landing on the floor with a quiet thump. He knew Ran would be awake and sitting the in kitchen – the place in the apartment where she felt most comfortable. He knew Haibara would be awake too, though she would, obviously, be at Professor Agasa's rather than there.

Conan attempted to enter the kitchen silently, but Ran heard him - just as she always did. She looked at him and smiled, despite the tears forming crisscrossing streaks upon her face. He watched, biting his lip so hard it bled, as she patted the empty space on the counter beside her, trying to look as happy as anyone obviously in the middle of crying can. He released the pressure on his lip, and felt blood push upwards and well outwards. Not wanting Ran to become more worried than she obviously was already, he wiped away the blood and swung himself up to sit beside her.

For a while, neither said anything – each simply stared into space, perhaps cursing their insomnia, perhaps dwelling on why it existed. Either way, it was Ran who broke the not-so-tranquil tranquility.

"Oh Conan-kun…" And that was it. That was all she said. He heard a muffled sob, and turned to look at her, concern gracing his features. She sobbed again, softer this time, and suddenly enveloped him in a tight hug. This sitting in the kitchen at three a.m. thing had become routine for a little over a month now, but he'd never seen her quite like this. She was completely broken down – sobbing into his shoulder, her hands clenching and unclenching against his back…

Somewhere in the back of his mind, something was telling him that he had better check on Haibara once Ran was finished sobbing. However, somewhere else in the back of his mind, he was yelling at himself. Yelling for thinking about Haibara while the girl he loved was in his arms.

Meanwhile, in the rest of his mind, his thoughts were occupied with the memory of Haibara engulfing him in a hug not too different from this one a few days ago – he could still remember her sobbing and shaking in his arms. After all, a hug from Haibara was a rare thing – her deep hatred of physical contact kept such things from happening often. That hatred meant that she only sought contact from another when under extreme emotional stress. The anniversary of her sister's death coupled with a close brush with death (orchestrated by the black organization, of course) had not been a pleasant thing for Haibara Ai. Shaking himself mentally, he returned his attention to the girl in the arms of his 11-year-old body.

He didn't need to ask Ran what was wrong. It was after all, always the same thing: Shinichi, Shinichi, and Shinichi. He knew what was wrong, knew he was the cause of it, and he knew he couldn't do a goddamned thing about it. He called her as often as he could, but everything he said simply made her worry more – not that she made that worry obvious on the phone.

After a long moment, she relinquished him from her hug with a whispered, "arigato, Conan-kun." The boy she spoke of slid off the counter and looked at his tiny feet, covered by similarly tiny slippers. He was the last person she should be thanking. He walked to the kitchen door and picked up his super sneakers as he turned to face Ran.

"I'm going to Hakase's." He said, his voice as flat and emotionless as Haibara's usually was. Ran simply nodded and waved to his retreating back. Every day of this odd nighttime ritual, she'd protested to his leaving, saying an eleven year old shouldn't be on the streets of Tokyo at three a.m. Of course, she'd never actually stopped him from leaving, but she'd always protested at least slightly. But now? Nothing. Perhaps she was simply too sad and tired to say anything. Or perhaps it was because, yesterday, he'd mentioned that he was going to make sure Haibara was ok. But… surely not.

Shaking his head, Edogawa Conan left the apartment with a whispered, "See you in the morning, Ran-neechan."

xXxXxXx

Haibara Ai was ill. As were her other selves – Miayno Shiho and Sherry. Specifically, she was ill with the flu. No, not the hellish "praying to the porcelain god" flu – the chills, soreness of the limbs, and extreme exhaustion sort of flu. She despised being ill – after all, it threw off her cynicism and turned it into a dull rage at everything around her, coupled with a dull headache.

It took 27.83 minutes of unproductive work for Haibara's rage at… well, everything, to overflow. With a soft cry of anger, she tossed the APTX formulas she'd been on aside, sending papers soaring across the lab. She knew she would hate herself for making the lab messier than it already was when she returned later, but at the moment, she couldn't give a damn.

Rolling her eyes, Haibara stalked up the stairs, into the living room, and flopped down on the couch – to the ringing of the doorbell. With a muffled curse, she looked at the screen displaying who was at the door, though she knew all too well who it was.

"Kudo…" she murmured, and he looked like he was in some sort of pain – most likely of the emotional persuasion. She was fairly sure of the reason why. "Baka, Kudo. Baka." With a heavy sigh, she pressed the "open door" button beneath the screen.

That idiot – he was always carrying this emotional baggage around with him, and the only time he didn't hide it was when he was here, with her, at ungodly hours of the morning. Then again, she thought, she was the last person who should complain about that – she did the exact same thing to him. She sighed again and settled into her normal mode of existence – deep in thought, and detached from the world.

xXxXxXx

When Conan walked into the living room, his vague happiness at being out of the lashing rain outside – his only thought that wasn't somehow depressing – was swept away by another, happier though: that Haibara Ai, with her knees tucked under her chin, her arms around those same knees, and a lost look in her half-lidded eyes, was the most beautiful thing on the face of the earth.

What was he doing? He needed to think about Ran – about how to cheer her up and shake her out of her depressive stupor. He looked down at his shoes, despite his lack of willingness to look away from the vision of beauty before him. Ran… Suddenly unable to form any coherent thought beyond that one name, he looked up again. His eyes met Haibara's, and her was suddenly positive that he was no longer capable of any conscious thought whatsoever. His actions flipped to automatic as his brain took a breather.

xXxXxXx

When Haibara Ai truly because aware of Kudo's presence in the room, it was because he was moving towards her with a look befitting a sad puppy in his eyes. She registered with mild surprise what his intentions were. "Kudo, if you dare to so much as lay a finger on me, I'll-" shut up, apparently. At least, that's what she'd done when he'd wrapped her in a strangely warm hug. _Why did I do that? _She asked herself, _I don't know,_ came the huffed reply, _I'm not Nietzsche_. She barely kept from rolling her eyes_. Great,_ she thought, _now I'm talking to myself. Kudo has had an extremely bad effect on me. _As she could no longer remember what she'd been about to threaten him with, she sighed for the third time that night and retuned the hug. _Kudo,_ she thought, _you have the emotional capacity of the body you're stuck in._

After a while Kudo relinquished her from his hug. However, he stayed where he was, kneeling on the floor in front of her. She dropped her knees from under her chin, slid her legs off the edge of the couch and waited. She crossed her legs. She crossed her arms. She sighed for the fourth time that night (as for why she was keeping track? She had no idea.) Then finally, "what is it, Kudo?"

xXxXxXx

"Kudo" looked up, into the face of Haibara, feeling her eyes burning a hole in his forehead. Even with her feet dangling an inch off the floor, she looked mature – more so than he did, certainly. Suddenly, Conan felt terrible. Terrible for coming to her with some pathetic sob story of love lost when he knew what he did about her past.

"Gomen…" he said softly, as he dragged himself upwards to sit next to her, "gomen, Haibara. I know you have bigger problems than I do."

She turned and simply looked at him for a second before she said, "You never know until you find out, Kudo, and I'm not saying another word until you tell me what's wrong." He stared at her for a while. Cold and calculating, kind and caring. He was never too sure which pair she was. Perhaps she was all four. He smiled.

"It's just…" he paused, his vision swimming for no reason he could discern, "y- you look so beautiful, Haibara."

For a split second, he could have sworn she looked embarrassed – a light pink blush spreading across her cheeks, her looking away from his eyes watched her intently. But a quickly as it had come, it was gone. And as if the moment hadn't left quite quickly enough, Haibara laughed harshly. "Tell me that's not why you're depressed, Kudo."

Conan gasped and stiffened as he realized what he'd said. Perhaps he was getting sick – something was obviously screwing up his thought process. Haibara artfully arched an eyebrow, challenging him to respond.

"N-no," he stammered, "that's not… I was just being observant," he stated flatly, and Haibara was sure she could detect a hint of typically Kudo childish embarrassment. She desperately wanted to make a comment as to just what the job of being a detective consisted of, but something told her to just be silent for a while and let him talk things out. With yet another inaudible sigh, Haibara leaned back into the couch – it was going to be a long night.

"It's about Ran," he began, and Haibara bit back another sarcastic comment, "she… She's more depressed than I've ever seen her before…" He trailed off and looked up from he'd been staring on the couch. "It hurts, Haibara. It pains me to see her like this."

At that, something inside Haibara snapped, though she wasn't entirely sure why. "Fine, Kudo," she said, her voice smooth and cool, "I get the message: work harder on the antidote, so you can go live out your happily-ever-after with Ran. In fact, I think I'll go work on it right now." With that, she slid off the couch and started off towards the lab, rage in her stride and confusion in her mind – she was still baffled as to why she's said that, and why she was so enraged.

Edogawa Conan, however, was not one to give up easily – even if he wasn't sure what he was losing. He leapt off the couch, leaving his thoughts to Ran behind, and caught Haibara's arm just as she stepped out of the room. To his relief, she froze, though she didn't turn and look at him.

"Haibara," he said softly, silently begging her to turn and face him, "Haibara, I didn't mean it that way. Gomen. I was looking for advice, not the antidote." He paused, contemplating the odd and sudden tightness in his throat, "Please."

Eventually, she turned and faced him, an unreadable expression on her face. "I," she said softly, "am the last person you should turn to for such advice."

Nevertheless, she didn't fight to leave his grasp. Where had this strange boldness come from? He was supposed to be clumsy around girls – no, he _was_ clumsy around girls. Shaking off his thoughts, he continued, the mysterious confidence still in his voice. "That's just the thing, Haibara. I don't believe that's true."

"Start believing it, Kudo," she whispered, "every relationship I've ever been in has been painful." She looked him in the eyes, her eyes telling him just how serious she was. He let go of her, his confidence having deserted him.

Shattering his perception of her once again, she didn't leave the room. Instead, she walked to the couch they'd just been sitting on and sat back down – not flopping down on it like a child, but sinking down onto it like the adult he knew her to be. She locked eyes with him again, and he saw yet another unreadable expression there. "Do you honestly want my advice?" she inquired, and he nodded in affirmation. "Do you want to hear what my current issues are?" he nodded again, and the ghost of a smile tugged at her lips. "Then get over here and sit down, Kudo. I may _have _all night, but that doesn't mean you have to _take_ all night." She nodded to the space next to her, and he obeyed silently. Suddenly, Haibara realized that she no longer felt like Kudo was the last person she should be talking to about her past and current problems. She frowned. Their talk may not take all night, but figuring out what that meant just might. With that she hoped would be her final sigh of the evening, she slowly explained how the female mind worked to a very perplexed Kudo.

xXxXxXx

When Professor Agasa stumbled into the living room the following morning, the last thing he expected to see is exactly what he saw – Shinichi and Ai-kun sleeping on opposite ends of the couch, but with Shinichi's right hand and Ai-kun's left gripped tightly together, as it they were clinging on to each other for dear life. Perhaps they were.

Smiling, the professor made his way to the kitchen, having completely forgotten his mission of giving Ai the flu medicine he'd bought – he was too busy trying to figure out why they hadn't been bickering pointlessly or discussing the black organization, as usual. Eventually, he shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind - he had a different objective now: making three waffles without blowing up the house.

xXxXxXx

A/N: Whew! I apologize for any inconsistencies and such. I wrote this chapter while down with the flu. Also, if my spelling or grammar seems odd, blame it on my being an American living in England. I tend to incorporate the spelling and grammar rules of both countries interchangeably.


	2. Baisc Idiocy

Disclaimer: the lack of ownership from the previous chapter remains. /sigh/

A/N: I apologize for how long it took me to get this chapter up – I was working like a madman his week (bleh… work). Also, I forgot to mention that this story should really be classified as being romance/angst/humour. Yeah, I know, it seems like a nasty combination, but my moods affect my writing so greatly that my stories only make sense if I write with such a broad range. This chapter, by the way, should be more "slight smile" humorous than "laughing hysterically" humorous. (Nothing I write is really very funny, after all.) Anyway, many thanks to all of my gracious reviewers. Take comfort in the fact that you all are probably the only reason this chapter is up now and not (even) later. /yawn/ Hrm? Oh. Right. Here's chapter two of "I'm Not Nietzsche:" basic idiocy.

xXxXxXx

Miayno Sh- no, Haibara Ai awoke to the feeling (or lack thereof) of numbness in her left hand. With half of her dreading the sight that awaited her, and with the other half quietly amused, she turned her head slowly to see the form of a sleeping Kudo, whose right hand had her left in a death grip. She quickly dismissed the blush that had risen to her cheeks upon the sight, blaming it hastily on the flu she still had. She dismissed, too, the vague, half-formed romantic thoughts in her head. _I'm just tired,_ she thought, _tired and sick._

Instead, she turned her attention to extracting her hand from Kudo's. She gripped his wrist tightly, leaned back, and pulled her left arm back as roughly as she could. For a second, nothing happened, but her hand eventually slipped from his with a barely audible 'pop.' She stifled a sarcastic chuckle as his hand went immediately slack and he remained deeply asleep. Rolling her eyes and ignoring the smell of smoke wafting from the kitchen, (how could Hakase have lived alone for so long while being such a terrible cook?) she made her way upstairs to get ready for school.

Approximately ten minutes later, she made her was back down the stairs, thinking idly about how, now that putting on make up was no longer part of it, her morning routine went so much faster. However, the sight that greeted her upon her entering of he living room derailed those idle thoughts, only to replace them with other, marginally less idle ones. Kudo was fast asleep, _no surprise there,_ her thoughts derailed again, though, as her gaze slid over to where his hand lay, still outstretched, as if silently begging her to place her hand in it again. For a split second, she was tempted to do so and curl up on her end of the couch, but she caught herself. _This flu is worse than I thought, _she mused, _holding hands with Kudo? Honestly. Hakase'd better have bought that medicine by now._ With that, Haibara left the room, pausing only to cast one quick look back at Kudo. _Still asleep,_ she thought, and she knew she didn't have the heart to wake him up.

xXxXxXx

After another hour of relatively uninterrupted sleep, Edogawa Conan awoke to being shaken violently. He had to grate out a slurred "'m tired… leave me 'lone…" before the infernal vibrating stopped. Unwillingly, he slowly opened his eyes. Who had been so utterly cruel as to break off his first decent rest in almost a month?

Instead of seeing the smirking face of Haibara, as he'd expected, he instead was treated to an "up close and personal" view of Professor Agasa. With a groggy yelp, Conan sprung towards the back of the couch and curled up into a ball as he shielded his eyes from the light that was mysteriously piercing the curtains.

"Come on, Shinichi! You're late for school already!" Conan winced. _How could they punish me anyway? It's primary school for heaven's sake… _He thought, as Professor Agasa mumbled something about Haibara not telling him where he'd been sleeping. At the moment, Conan couldn't care less about how long Hakase'd been looking for him – seeing as he'd woken him up, he hadn't spent nearly long enough looking, and far too much time finding.

Conan rolled to his right, off the couch, and onto the floor. Wincing again, he stood up and swayed groggily for a second before stumbling out the door of the living room. He lifted a hand in goodbye, and Professor Agasa nodded in acknowledgement as he sighed. "These kids'll never learn…" he mumbled, and headed down to the lab for a long day of surfing the web.

xXxXxXx

Conan had been wrong about the lack of punishment. Very wrong. _Detention, _he mused, _well, I could think of worse punishments. Wait… Kuso! I'm going to miss soccer practise! Kuso, kuso, kuso…" _With this little swearing mantra repeating in his head, he looked slowly to his left. As he'd expected, Haibara was sitting there, calm as always, looking at the teacher, but obviously oblivious to the lesson – that much he could tell from the smug expression she wore.

Just as he was about to turn to face the board again, she turned to face him, tossed her hair, and smiled sweetly. As Conan's eyes widened in shock, she simply returned her focus to the lesson, her eyes on the board once more. The teacher, however, whipped around, most likely due to seeing the quick movement out of the corner of her eye. Conan hastily tried to look back at the front of the room, but despite his soccer-honed reflexes, (as he'd once described them to Ran,) he was too slow.

"Edogawa-kun!" Conan winced at the expected roar.

"Yes, sensei?" he squawked.

The teacher drew a sigh as though she despised punishing students for their transgressions, but Conan was fairly sure she enjoyed it. "Edogawa-kun," she said, shaking her head from side to side with the aggravating slowness that adults reserve for disappointment, "do you really want me to add another hour of detention onto the one you have already?"

Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, Conan simply said "no, sensei…" in his best "apologetic little kid" voice and leaned back in his chair. With a smile that spoke of her having accomplished something great on her face, the teacher returned to the English lesson on the board.

Conan looked to his left out of the corner of his eye and saw that Haibara's smug smile had grown. _She's playing with me! _He fumed, _After not waking me up this morning, leaving me to end up in detention, **and** hiding my super sneakers, she tries to get me another hour of sitting in silence? _After pausing to stop himself from snapping a perfectly good pencil in half, he resumed his thoughts. _Ok, so since we've been through this particular bit of schooling before, we generally amuse ourselves by trying to get each other in trouble, but not to the extent of detention! Honestly, I have cases to work on, and a certain organization to find! What is wron-_

His thoughts were cut off by the sound of someone screaming his name at a decibel level similar to that of a speeding freight train. With his third wince of the day, he shot up in his chair and tried to look attentive again. "Erm… gomen. What was that?"

The teacher's brown eyes flared with a potent mixture of amusement, annoyance, and anger. "Edogawa-kun," she growled, "please at least _attempt _to pay attention in class. I know you get straight A's, but that doesn't mean that you can slack off. Now, translate this sentence into English for me."

_One little sentence? Obviously, she has no grasp of my abilities_, he thoughta smug smile to match Haibara's appearing on his face, _fine then. Let's see…_ he read through the sentence quickly, and froze. _Wha- what? How on… _he was sure his eyes were deceiving him. _I must be reading this wrong_, he thought, his smug smile suddenlygone,he read it again, slower this time, and, to his horror, he hadn't gotten it wrong. It read, written in that excruciatingly clear script that only teachers possess, "Kudo Shinichi, the great high school detective of the east, has recently disappeared." Conan nearly gagged.

There was a long pause before Conan said a word. Within that time, the teacher cleared her throat, Ayumi-chan looked at Conan worriedly, and Haibara's grin grew ever wider. Finally, Conan choked out the words in his usual immaculate English. Again, silence reigned for a while – the only noise was of Ayumi-chan letting out a shaky, nervous breath. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Conan wondered why she'd been so worried, but his musings were cut short by the teacher's harsh words. "Alright, Edogawa-kun. I'll only add half an hour to your detention for that."

While Conan mulled over his added half hour, the teacher went from annoyed to cheerful in the time a Ferrari can go from one to twenty. "Thank you, Haibara-chan," the teacher said, "for giving us that wonderful little sentence." This time, Conan actually choked. As in, he coughed mightily and spluttered as he pounded himself on the chest. _Did she say Haibara?_ The teacher ignored his sudden fit and carried on teaching, while most of the girls in the class leapt from their seats and rushed over to ask him if he was all right.

After assuring his "fans" that he wasn't going to die (at least, not immediately) and they returned to their respective seats, he slowly turned to face Haibara once again. Unsurprisingly, the same excruciatingly clam expression from before was still on her face. Eventually, he faced the board once more, not bothering to hide his own expression of boredom.

Haibara allowed him ten minutes of "focus" before she tossed a carefully folded paper onto his desk with a flick of her wrist that even Conan didn't see. With his hands shaking for no reason he could discern, he unfolded it and groaned under his breath as his eyes scanned the page. It was in Haibara's immaculate handwriting – then again, everything about her, everything she did, was always immaculate and perfect. He wasn't sure if he envied it, hated it, or admired it.

The note was short, but it was far from being 'sweet.' _Well, Kudo, _it read, _have you learned your lesson yet?_ Lesson? What lesson? The teacher sent him another glare, and he pocketed the note – he would force the answer out of Haibara tonight at Hakase's. The teacher snapped at him again, for no particular reason, and he knew that detention would be hellish.

xXxXxXxXx

Conan grumbled quietly to himself as he made his way out of detention and out of the school building. Missing the second soccer practise of the season was something that, as captain of the soccer team, he most certainly wasn't supposed to do. Therefore, he was sure he'd find most of his team waiting outside of the school for him, murderous intent foremost in their minds. Well, perhaps not _murderous_, exactly. They were primary school students, after all.

As he stepped out into the fading late afternoon sun, he was faced not with a murderous band of soccer players, but instead with a placid Haibara Ai, reading calmly through a chemistry book no average sixth grader could understand. Conan's eyelids drooped, and the corners of his mouth twitched. _She waited for… me?_ Another twitch… and he snapped. "WHAT THE HELL, HAIBARA!"

She hid her smile aggravatingly well. _Really, _he thought, _she should go into acting._ She didn't even react to his indignant roar – she simply put down her book, stood up, stretched, and said, "Ah, Kudo. I've been waiting for you."

Conan knew there was a good sarcastic retort for that, but he suddenly couldn't remember what it was. She… distracted him. Wait… Ah, yes, that was it. But despite his attempt at being strong and witty, his words came out with a stammer. "R-really, Haibara? I ne-never would have guessed."

Her smirk just grew. "If you're curious, Kudo, the shounen tantei have been called out on yet another lost cat case, your fangirls left dejectedly about half an hour ago, and the soccer team was too impatient to wait for more than twenty minutes."

Conan blinked. _There is no explanation for that other than that she read my mind. _Some other part of his mind rolled its imaginary eyes. _Somehow I doubt she read your mind. Your expression, certainly - she may have shrunk us into this body, but she probably doesn't have supernatural powers… Baka. _Conan winced once more. _For the love of… _he thought, _I must be developing bipolar disorder or something. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. _He cleared his throat and his thoughts and asked, "Haibara, how did you-"

Haibara cut him off with a laugh. "Who knows how I knew, Kudo. I'm not Nietzsche, after all." With that, she brushed herself off, picked up her backpack, and strode briskly out of the school gates.

_I'm not… what?_ Conan didn't move for a while – his deductions went more smoothly if he stood still (unless he had a soccer ball) – but no matter how many different ways he looked at what Haibara had said, nothing made sense. Snapping back to his normal mode of being, he broke into a sprint and headed after Haibara with a yell of, "Hang on, Haibara! That doesn't make any sense!" Haibara, still a good bit ahead of him, just smiled.

xXxXxXx

It was three hours after that when he finally got the courage up to ask her what she'd meant by, well, everything that had happened that day. Why had it taken him so long to ask? Well, she'd started working with the APTX data immediately after they'd arrived at Hakase's – a sign that she was in a bad mood. However, she'd let him join her in the lab – a sign that she was in an unusually good mood. So, Conan had sat down in the lab, watching as she worked, and had remained perplexed as to what she was thinking. _So much for last night's "explanation of the female mind"_

But finally, he'd concluded that she would at least listen to his question, if not answer it. "Haibara?"

"Hm?" It was the first thing she'd said since they'd entered the lab.

"What did you mean, earlier, when you said 'I'm not Nietzsche?'"

Haibara smirked once more. She'd been expecting this question. "Well, I'm not, now am I?"

Conan blinked. _You'd think I'd be used to it by now, _hemused,_ her usual technique of blunt sarcasm combined with blunt, obvious, and truthful answers. _"I mean, as in…" He trailed off, and she took her opportunity to jump in.

"Now tell me, Kudo… Which one of us is the detective?"

Conan looked rather mystified. "Well… I am, obviously."

Though her back was turned to him, Conan could sense Haibara rolling her eyes. "Alright then, _tantei-san_, why don't you figure it out. Her tone was mocking, and that drove Conan over the edge.

With a muffled "fine, then," he stalked up the stairs and into the kitchen. Folding his arms indignantly, Conan – no, Shinichi – began pacing back and forth. The voice in the back of his mind that had been telling his to call Ran as Conan to tell her he wouldn't be home for dinner was slowly disappearing, and the voice that had been telling him to call her as Shinichi to say that he was fine had disappeared completely.

At any other time he might have thought about how quickly priorities change and, more importantly, how quickly people change. Was he the same person he'd been when he was forced to take the APTX? He already knew the answer to that, and it was no. The same answer applied to Haibara and to Ran. None of them were the same, and he wasn't sure if that was for better or for worse.

xXxXxXx

A/N: Well… No matter how I look at it, I still just don't like this chapter. /frowns/ Ah well. I apologize for the lateness once more (work… /fretfretfret/ ) Anyway, please review and such. Chapters three and four I actually have inspiration for, so they should be better than this sordid attempt at humour was. Adios for now! (also, the first chapter of a completely random, romance/humour, Conan/Ai-centric fic by the name of: "Of Mice, Men, and Plot Devices" should be up soonish, but I shall make no time promises.)


	3. Lost and Confused

Disclaimer: Take a wild guess. Go on. I'm just _positive_ you'll be right. … meh.

Author's note: Gah! This site annoys me to no end! To those who, due to the crazy glitchiness of this site, couldn't read chapter two, I apologize. I think I fixed it today, and to make up for the time it took me to get around to posting it, I thought I'd buckle down and get chapter three written on time. /grins apologetically/ I hope you like it. (It has a _plot_ now! I'm quite pleased with myself. Heh.)

xXxXxXx

For the first time in what seemed like a very long while, Haibara Ai felt like her other self – Miyano Shiho. She was doing the same sort of things – going to school completely exhausted thanks to spending all night in lab doing research, reading nothing but chemistry textbooks and fashion magazine Just as she was doing now – typing furiously at her computer all alone. Kudo was… somewhere upstairs, probably, but she was far too concerned with convincing herself that she didn't _care_ where he was to actually know. _APTX 4869…. APTX 4869… Oh goddamit. Screw this. _With that sentiment, she stood, kicking her chair somewhere half way across the lab. The scattered papers from yesterday were still strewn across the lab – she hadn't gotten around to cleaning, and Agasa hadn't noticed. She smiled faintly. _I'm sorry for making your life even more of a mess, Agasa Hakase._

She walked up the stairs slowly and silently. How many times had she done this? Slinking up the stairs to spy on Kudo… It was stupid, and she knew it. Yet she couldn't help herself. Listening in on Kudo's private conversations had become something of a bad habit. This time, though, he wasn't talking. He was pacing back and forth across the kitchen, his glasses swinging idly in his left hand while his right flowed through his hair over and over again. Her breath caught in her throat. For being all of 11 years of age, he was strangely handsome. In any other circumstances, she would have mentally slapped herself for that comment. However, she was preoccupied with the view – that, and all of her brain processes were shutting down one by one. She wanted to step out from where she was watching him, and… hug him. Mentally, she was teetering on an edge – on one side, she could go back downstairs, and keep her carefully cultivated cold façade up and running, while on the other hand, she could step out and wrap him in the hug she was imagining.

Her right foot was hovering just outside of the door, and her decision had been made, when she heard a gunshot - It was a sound she knew all too well. She did indeed step out of her hiding spot, but not under the circumstances she'd hoped. Moreover, why hadn't Kudo reacted? Was he simply too deep in thought to hear it? The idiot… a possible case and a possible threat on his life, and he hadn't _noticed_?

Kudo's head jerked up at her footsteps. "Oh, hey Haibara! So what did yo-"

She grabbed his arm before he could finish the sentence. "Shut it, Kudo. There was a _gunshot_ outside, and it could very well be _them_. Baka." She was rambling, and she knew it. But she couldn't stop herself. What if it was them? They were as good as dead, standing in the kitchen while she was rambling and being irrationally afraid and- someone was saying her name. Repeatedly. Soothingly. She stopped rambling.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized that Kudo was the one speaking. "Haibara… Haibara, it's not them. They would never be so obvious as to shoot a gun right outside of this house."

"But what if they just wanted to draw us out, Kudo?" she interjected, "What if they-"

He cut her off for the second time in as many minutes. "Haibara, those were fireworks. Just fireworks." A shudder ran through her, and suddenly he was holding her. _When did I become so paranoid? _She pondered, _When did lose my sense of true danger? What about my ability to analyze the sounds of weapons? More importantly… Why did that scare me so much?_ She shuddered again, and his comforting hold on her tightened.

The soft crackles of fireworks could still be heard outside. "Come on, Haibara. Let's go outside." She nodded faintly against his chest. _Why am I letting him act like this? Hell, why am **I** acting like this? _And yet, she was smiling when he took her hand in his.

To any onlooker, the two would have looked like the average almost-teenage couple – awkward but sweet. To the couple themselves, though, things weren't awkward for the first time in a very long while. The situation wasn't even confusing – they were both too lost in their minds to notice what they were doing while running on automatic.

xXxXxXx

It's said that some people have a natural talent when it comes to comforting others. It was apparent, as the two stood outside, his left hand clasping her right, that Kudo was one of those people.

It is also said that some people only drop the façade they always wear when they're around the people they love. It was apparent, too, that Haibara was one of those people – her icy façade, if only for the time being, was gone.

xXxXxXx

Mornings are, by nature, awkward. That was Agasa Hakase's first thought as he woke up at 6:00 on the dot. He had witnessed the entire debacle last night, and he knew that, when Shinichi and Ai-kun encountered each other at school that day, things were bound to be awkward.

Well, that or they would realize that they were madly in love with each other and would fall into each other's arms. Of course, knowing the two of them, that was the last thing that would ever happen. Shinichi was clueless, for lack of a better word, and Ai-kun wasn't crazy enough to do something like that. _And this isn't a romantic comedy, _he added silently.

_Someday,_ he vowed, _if they don't just get on with it already, I'm going to knock some sense into both of them. _

xXxXxXx

Edogawa Conan also woke up at 6:00 on the dot, feeling fairly sure that the events of last night had been some sort of positively mystifying dream - one that he could remember unnaturally clearly. They had stood there, fingers intertwined, staring up at the flashing fireworks in the night sky. Red, blue, green, gold… Random colours that the mind strives to find a pattern in. For normal children, the sky holds dreams – traveling to space, becoming an astronaut, seeing the stars up close. For the two of them, the sky held an entirely different thing: one that spoke volumes about the things the two had been through. It held the last vestige of hope.

The night hadn't been silent, as it would have been in any movie. Tokyo was never silent. An ambulance raced by, sirens blaring, but neither batted an eyelash. You don't need silence to freeze a moment in time: all you need are two people who are willing to accept that life doesn't always go quite as planned. He couldn't think of any two people on earth who understood that more than the two of them.

A dream, surely. But still… he looked down at himself, and he could see a single strawberry blonde hair clinging to the black cotton of his shirt. He rolled out of his futon – it was strange to be sleeping at Ran's again, after the past month or so – and headed to the bathroom.

As he stared at himself in the mirror, it occurred to Conan that his recent lack of sleep was rather obvious. There were dark shadows under his eyes not befitting one who was only supposed to be 11. He spat his toothpaste into the sink and ambled into the kitchen. However, there was no typical "Good morning, Conan-kun!" from Ran this morning. Instead, there was an eerie silence – one that did not befit the household at all. He could vaguely remember someone once saying to him, "Wherever that girl lives, whoever with, there will be laughter and happiness. That is one of the few things on this earth that I am sure of."

But who had said that? Why did he only remember now, when she was missing and should be thinking about where she could be? _She always leaves a note when she's leaving early, so where is it? Of course, she could have said something to old man Mouri last night…_ _Ah. Of course._

Three seconds later, Conan had skidded into the bedroom of the "meitantei" Sleeping Kogoro. Upon seeing the sleeping form of the undoubtedly hung over detective, a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding escaped his lips. Waking up Kogoro wasn't his favorite job – not by a long shot – but if it resulted in finding out Ran was perfectly safe, then he couldn't care less.

Ten minutes of prodding the well and truly asleep Sleeping Kogoro resulted in nothing. He didn't so much as twitch. Frustrated, Conan grabbed the idiot's arm and twisted it as hard as he could, but to no avail. Loud snores continued to resound in the room. With the obligatory eye roll, Conan checked the detective's pulse – it was pounding like that of a frightened rabbit. _That's strange… _he mused, _unless… Ah, baka. Why didn't I check that before? _He pulled the detective's eyelids up carefully, and his suspicions were confirmed – his pupils were dilated fully, and they weren't reacting to light. Obviously drugged.

Conan slumped. If this wasn't proof that Ran hadn't just left early to do some extra karate work, nothing was. Why hadn't he noticed that Mouri had been drugged before? Moreover, why hadn't he noticed when whoever had done this had come in last night? Perhaps, by the time he'd gotten back, Ran had already been taken… "Dammit!" he roared out his frustration to a silent house. Why hadn't he just stayed home? Why?

xXxXxXx

As Edogawa Conan entered the classroom of 6-B at 9:30 that morning, the Japanese class that was taking place fell silent. Conan walked to his seat – next to Haibara, as always – and sat down. He stared, defeat in his eyes, at the blackboard in the front of the classroom. _They work without leaving any clues… _Haibara's words from long ago repeated in his head – a sort of sickening mantra to the defeated meitantei.

Finally, the teacher managed a hesitant, "Ah, good morning Edogawa-kun. May I ask why you're late?"

Conan wanted, so desperately, to laugh at her question. To laugh hysterically, over and over again, even though it wasn't funny. But he didn't. He never would. "Family emergency, sensei," he muttered, "the principal can explain." He given the principal an explanation, yes, but not of what had happened. As far as the school would find out, Kogoro had alcohol poisoning (no surprise there) and Ran had broken her leg in a particularly violent karate match.

As soon as the teacher was immersed in her lesson once more, Conan whispered "Oi, Haibara!" as softly as he could

Her only response was a soft "Hm?" But he could tell she was listening.

"I need your help, Haibara."

She wasn't surprised. "So the alcohol poisoning and he broken leg _were _lies. What do you need me to do?"

At any other time, he would have been surprised at her words – she was almost never in a helpful mood – though she would help indirectly all the time. "Yeah, those were lies. Ran's missing and Kogoro's been drugged. There are no clues. I… I think it's them. I need to get out of here and investigate properly."

She tensed. She knew this would happen at some point, but why when they'd reached this point of semi-happiness? "Why did you come here in the first place then, Kudo? Besides, why do you need _my _help?"

He sighed noisily. "I came here to get you, Haibara, because you know more about them than anyone else. And… I was worried about you, ok?"

Haibara pulled out her schedule – partially to hide her slight blush, and partially to figure out what would be the most convenient time to escape. "Right before science," she whispered to him, "that would be the best time." He just nodded, and she looked at him. He was looking at the lesson board, but not paying attention to it. She could see, from the sorrowful look in his eyes and the angry set of his jaw, that he couldn't take it – this sitting here, this _inaction_. It was wounding him, and she doubted very much that she could bandage that wound.

xXxXxXx

Escaping from Teitan elementary had been an easy task. Finding clues in the perpetually messy home of Mouri Kogoro, as Haibara was in the process of discovering, was near impossible. Especially when said clues only existed in theory (but surely no human could do anything without leaving some clue?) and these theoretical clues were supposed to have been left by an organization that exists _because_ it leaves no clues.

She was frustrated, to say the least. Kudo was destroying the place more than it was already – a violent departure from his usual meticulous manner – while she was trying to work carefully, as not to erase any potentially important clues.

It was when a Japanese to French dictionary, thrown by Kudo, hit her on the shoulder that she finally snapped. Kudo either didn't notice, or simply didn't want to apologize. She stood slowly and turned to face him, fists clenched with rage. "Kudo, if you would just work in your _normal_ manner, without- without _chucking_ things at me. Then _maybe_, just maybe, I can find the clues that may or may not be here. Just… for God's sake tone it down. I understand the emotions you're feeling, but just _relax_. Please."

She turned away from him and knelt to begin going through a certain Yoko Okino collection again. But first, she touched her shoulder gingerly and winced. She could tell there'd be a bruise there in a few hours. Not to mention Kudo had somehow managed to hit a pressure point, and now her entire left arm was numb. _Bloody well done_, she thought. Just as she was about to draw her hand away and return to her search, another hand came to rest on top of hers.

She didn't turn to see who it was – she could tell, just from the placement of the calluses on the hand, that it was Kudo. She'd always had a proficiency for remembering things like that. After a long moment, he spoke. "I'm sorry, Haibara. They're just… too good at this. And I… well, you know."

She still didn't turn around, but now she was smiling. "It's ok, Kudo," she said softly, "let's get to work already."

"Wait." His voice was suddenly hoarse. She felt him kneel behind her. _Don't be an idiot, Kudo,_ she thought, _you've still got her. Don't… don't get my hopes up. _He wrapped his arms around her for the second time in twenty-four hours. Only now did she turn, there in his arms. There were no tears on his face – she hadn't expected any - but there was pain in his eyes that she understood well.

His breath was warm against her lips. Their foreheads were pressed together, and she could feel his left hand in her hair, along with his right splayed upon her back. She could sense his lips drawing closer, his eyes slowly closing. Miyano Shiho, sensible as always, wanted to tell him to stop, to realize the stupidity of his actions. Haibara Ai, blinded by love, wanted to tell him that she'd been waiting for this moment for a long time. She compromised, and said nothing.

Her mouth was open, ever so slightly, when their lips touched. Her slight gasp was almost inaudible, but it was there. It was enough to convince her that this was real, and not the recurring dream she'd been having for the past month. His tongue flicking out to brush against her lips and tangle with her own tongue solidified things for her: this wasn't a dream, it was a dream come true.

xXxXxXx

Several miles away, Gin and Vermouth were smiling. Not at each other, and not happily. Their smiles were sickening, and they were directed towards a note: _The Angel will die first, and she will be followed by our Silver Bullet. Sherry I will leave to you, Gin._

_-The Boss_

In another room, the one known as "Angel" screamed.

xXxXxXx

Author's note: Yeah, that's a cliffie. /grins/ I rather like this chapter… I've always thought I was better at angsty writing, after all. Anyway, see the little review button down there? I really love it when people press that… /cough/ So yeah… chapter four will be up next weekend. Oh, and I apologize for the for he "dream come true" line. I've seen too many chick flicks lately. (But hey… Conan/Ai can always use some fluff) Thanks to all of my brilliant reviewers!


	4. Crazy

Author's note: Man, I'm exhausted. Guess who's sick again? Not me! No, actually, me. Again. With a crazy cough. Well, Haibara isn't sick along with me this time, which is oddly depressing. Haibara is an… interesting person to be sick with. Anyway, hopefully you, dearest readers, will find a few answers to your questions in this chapter. /grins/

xXxXxXx

Miyano Shiho wanted to tell Kudo that he was an idiot. Haibara Ai wanted to tell him that she loved him. She wanted to tell him that he loved Ran, and he should be off saving her, and not here with a woman he obviously didn't love in his arms.

Once more, she compromised. "You're insane, Kudo. Completely crazy." She wanted to push him away, but she couldn't bring herself to. It was with an unnatural smile that she realized she'd meant it – he was insane. Who in their right mind would leave the warm, bubbly Ran Mouri for the icy Haibara Ai?

"Yeah," she heard him murmur, his breath warm on her neck, "I'm crazy." His lips were suddenly on her jawline. Haibara wanted to kiss him. Shiho knew she should knock some sense into him. Another compromise. Too many compromises. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away with more reluctance than she'd ever admit.

At that moment, a strange sort of shock ran through Kudo Shinichi. What was he doing? No, he knew what he was doing. But… why was he enjoying it?

xXxXxXx

Vermouth winced at the screams coming from the next room, but she followed up with an arrogant smirk. "I guess even Angels can't sing when they're scared."

Gin, still sitting across from her, merely grunted and flicked his lighter on and off.

Vermouth sighed, exasperated. "Come on, Gin. Why don't we go check up on her? We can have a little bit of fun while we wait." She lit her cigarette on his flickering lighter and smiled. "Hm?"

After a long moment, Gin laughed. Harshly. "We can't kill her unless that Kudo bastard's watching, and torture has begun to bore me. Tell me, oh dear Vermouth, what kind of _fun_ we can have." He stood up and pinched out Vermouth's cigarette as he tossed his own into the corner. "I want Sherry, Vermouth. I want her dead. Until I have my hands around her thin little neck, I _will not-_ no, I _cannot _have fun. Not until she's dead."

He left without another word, and Vermouth stared at her burnt-out cigarette. _When Sherry's dying instead of him, perhaps he'll realize that not all pleasure revolves around pain… though I somehow doubt that. _She stood, dropped her cigarette into an ugly garbage can, and entered the room of a caged angel. "Angel," she said softly, "tell me what you know about Edogawa Conan and Kudo Shinichi, and I'll see if I can do something about your imprisonment."

The Angel said nothing, and Vermouth smiled sadly. "Disregard the conversation you just heard. I need to keep up appearances, you know? You're not our target. Tell me what they want to know, and I swear I'll get you out of here." _There may be no God, Angel, _she thought,_ but I can be your saviour. _

The Angel sang.

xXxXxXx

It didn't take a certain Yoshida Ayumi very long to realize that Conan was missing. More importantly, some else had disappeared at the same time as he had. If had been anyone else, anyone at all, she wouldn't have been worried. But it _wasn't_ anyone else. It was Haibara Ai; the only girl that she'd ever thought would take away her relationship with Conan.

She didn't like to admit it, but she still feared it. Ai had said it so many times, "I'm not in love with him, don't worry," but there was no way she could simply "not worry." The way they stood in a corner and talked in hushed tones at crime scenes, the way they would finish each other's sentences almost without even knowing it, the way Ai stared at him while he made deductions… She could go on for hours.

They knew things that even made her mother confused. Conan wasn't scared of dead bodies, and she had seen Ai wearing a lab coat at professor Agasa's several times. She didn't understand what it was, but there was something intrinsically _wrong_ with the two of them. They weren't supposed to be how they were. That much was obvious. Nothing about them, nothing else at all, was as obvious as that.

She sighed softly and shook her head. _Gotta focus, gotta focus… Where could the two of them be? What if the two of them skipped school to go on a da- No, no way. She doesn't love him. It's probably just a case._ _Who would know where they are? Ah! Of course! Mitsuhiko-kun always knows where Ai-chan is!_ She stood up suddenly, drawing stares from most of the kids eating lunch around her, and grabbed Mitsuhiko's arm as she sped out of the room.

Mitsuhiko, meanwhile, wasn't sure if he should be afraid for his life, or if he should get his hopes up. Judging by the expression on Ayumi-chan's face (it was one he'd never had the misfortune to witness before,) he decided that fearing for his life was the best way to go. "Y-Yoshida-san! What are you d-doing?"

She shushed him violently. "Shut up! Look, I'm sure you've noticed that Ai-chan is missing, right?" He nodded. "Well, Conan-kun is missing too, ok? We need to find them."

Mitsuhiko watched with trepidation as Ayumi dialed the number of Conan's cellphone – something she'd memorized long ago. On one level, he wanted Conan to answer it, just so he could know what was going on. On another level, however, he desperately hoped that Conan wouldn't pick up, and would leave him to hope that his suspicions weren't correct.

To his dismay, the phone on the other end of the line began to ring.

xXxXxXx

An Angel sat alone in a nearly empty room, her wings clipped and her strength sapped. Hope, though, is not something easily taken away from an Angel such as this. She'd been in bad situations before, and she liked to think she knew how to handle them. Having a police officer for a father had taught her a few things about life.

Vermouth's words had been… softer than she'd expected. More cushy than a captor's words to their captive should be. That isn't to say they relaxed her or anything, though.

She'd wanted to know everything about Conan-kun, Shinichi, and Ai-chan. Why? Why did anyone care about two sixth graders and a detective geek who'd been missing for three years? The way she'd asked had been so casual, but there had been a deadly seriousness in her eyes.

"Where is Kudo Shinichi?" She'd demanded, "I know you know!" But that was just it. She _didn't_ know. As she'd thought so many times before, it hurt. It was painful to have once been the person he could confide in, and then to suddenly be the person he couldn't tell anything to.

She lifted her gaze from the floor and gently shook the chain that held her handcuffed wrists together. _The music of prisoners,_ she thought, and smirked – it was an unfamiliar expression on her face, but it suddenly fit there like it never had before. It reminded her of Ai-chan.

What had she known about Ai-chan? Nothing. Nothing at all. She said she was more mature than most girls of her age, seemed very intelligent, and was a close friend of Conan-kun. During that little explanation, she'd realized that it was unnatural that she knew so little about Ai-chan. She knew so much about the other shonen tantei – getting family information out of first graders isn't exactly an uphill battle – and yet Ai-chan remained a mystery to her.

Conan-kun… Vermouth had been desperate for information on him. She'd tried s hard to convince herself that he was just a sixth grader, but the expression on Vermouth's face had told her otherwise. But… that still didn't mean that Conan and Shinichi were one and the same. Even Vermouth didn't know if he was or wasn't. It all confused her even more. She shook the chains on her wrists once more and sighed. She could understand, now, why Shinichi hated inaction.

xXxXxXx

The sound of a phone ringing, interesting ringtone or not, is a harsh one. It's supposed to be. Most things intended for attention getting are. However, harsh or not, they make for useful excuses. Specifically, the sound of Conan's cellphone ringing violently was an exceedingly convenient excuse for the owner of said cellphone and a certain Haibara Ai to spring apart and look in opposite directions.

It was also an excuse for Conan to think about something other than what he'd just done. As he fumbled for the phone in his backpack, Ai watched him. It had been a long time since she'd last observed him like this. And then, it had been for entirely different reasons.

She'd watched as he'd stood at the side of Ran's hospital bed – her wounds the result of another overly close encounter with the organization. Ran had murmured something about how "Shinichi was never there to protect her anymore." And she'd seen him tense and look away for a long moment. When he looked back, she was sure he was about to confess the truth of Shinichi's long absence. He didn't, though. Instead, he'd simply said, "He may not be, Ran-neechan, but I always will be." That idiot and his promises. She too had made a promise that day, however. She'd promised herself that she would never observe him carefully ever again. Because when she did, she found out things she didn't want to know. She'd left the hospital room without a word.

The phone was still ringing. Conan now held it in his hand, but he didn't want to answer the call – he'd been distracted from this case enough already. Haibara, still observing him with the critical eye of a scientist, knew he would answer it. She was right. He flicked the phone open, put it to his ear, and managed a cross between a sigh and hello.

Haibara looked on as his expression went from surprise, to anger, to boredom. All before he even said a word. Hence, it was with shock that she heard herself ask, "Who is it, Kudo?" Why did she do things without thinking about them? Nevertheless, he just covered up the phone's mic, muttered "Ayumi and Mitsuhiko" then returned to listening to whatever was happening on the other end of the line.

She sighed softly and knelt beside Kudo in an attempt to listen to the conversation. She could hear a distressed Ayumi asking where the two of them were, and, more importantly, why they were wherever they were _together. _Haibara stifled a sigh. They had been interrupted for _this_? Wait. Interrupted? They hadn't interrupted anything. Nothing at all.

"Look, Ayumi-chan," Conan said, his voice strained, "we're involved with a really rough case, which you can't help with, ok? I'm really sorry, Ayumi." Haibara smiled. Not adding the "-chan" onto the end of her name would serve to both cheer up and distract Ayumi-chan.

It didn't, however, do anything to Mitsuhiko other than make him more confused and enraged. "Edogawa-kun! What are you doing? You can't be in a relationship with Haibara-san and Ayumi-chan at the same time!"

He rolled his eyes. "Who said I was in a relationship with either of them, _Tsubayara-kun_?" With that, he hung up, and hung his head. Why was he being so harsh? Mitsuhiko hadn't deserved that, and he was only more depressed than he had been previously. He snapped his phone shut, stood up, and swore. He _had_ made a mess of the place.

He felt Haibara stand up beside him, and he sighed again. "Sorry, Haibara," he muttered, and he could sense her smirking.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," she said simply, "but thank you anyway."

The two eleven-year-olds turned in opposite directions and began sorting through the newly trashed house, turmoil in their minds despite the tranquility displayed in their expressions.

xXxXxXx

Akai Shuichi threw away his cigarette with a sigh. He hated interrogating people. It was how he'd met her. And it was how he was going to find her again. Not that he really wanted to. He swore. His targets were leaving.

He slid down the ladder he'd been perched upon and landed on the dusty ground with nary a sound. He looked around himself, searching absently for his two targets. Teitan middle school. It didn't bring back any long lost memories or anything. Hell, he'd never even been here before.

He lit another cigarette. He'd found his targets. When he'd approached them, they'd responded half with fear, and half with defiance. He'd smiled, and gained their trust. Then he'd asked them questions. Simple ones. About the whereabouts of Edogawa Conan and Haibara Ai. About who they were. About what they liked doing. Everything he _could_ find out about them, he did.

He recorded everything on a hidden microphone (well, it was in his pocket, and they didn't know it was there.) As far as he was concerned, it was all useless. He didn't care about Edogawa Conan's and Haibara Ai's likes and dislikes – he cared about finding out if Haibara Ai really was Shiho, and how the hell she'd ended up as a little kid.

_Still,_ he thought, as he stopped and saved the recording,_ maybe James will find out something from this. No matter how much I doubt it…_

xXxXxXx

A mile or so away, Haibara Ai and Edogawa Conan sneezed simultaneously. "I guess Okino Yoko videos attract dust," Conan muttered, and Haibara nodded. No matter how dusty the videos looked, and no matter how much she hated superstitions, she couldn't help but imagine that someone had been thinking about her. Specifically, someone she hadn't thought about in a very, very long time. Too long, perhaps.

But now wasn't the time. She shook her head, and went back to the unproductive work. How many times had she said it? _They work by leaving no clues, Kudo._ _None whatsoever._ That idiot. Well, how else was he going to find Ran? That _was_ his objective, right? _Of course, _she reminded herself, _that was always his objective._

Her disarrayed thoughts were pushed further into oblivion when Kudo yelped with joy and held up something that she couldn't see. Well, she hoped he was holding something. If not, her doubt of his sanity from before remained.

"Look, Haibara! Check it out!" He had somehow gotten a hold of her shoulder, and was now shaking her to emphasize his words.

She sighed deeply, now truly doubting his sanity. "Kudo, you _aren't holding any-"_ Oh. Now she could see it, if she looked truly closely. Of course, she could be going crazy too. Was it a hair? If it was real, that long, and _that_ shade of blonde. Was it… "Kudo, what do you expect to find out about their whereabouts from a strand of Gin's _hair_?"

He blinked, and she could tell he hadn't quite thought things through yet. He took a deep breath, and he came up with an answer. "I know it won't do much Haibara, but… It's something, ok?"

She smiled. "I know, Kudo. Believe me, I know." He looked at her for a long moment, then encased the long strand in a plastic bag, which he pocketed.

He turned away, meaning to continue working, but then something occurred to him. "Thanks, Haibara," He said softly, "thanks a lot." And he sounded sincere.

xXxXxXx

A/N: Well? This chapter seems odd to me, somehow. And in another way, I like it. Hrm. /cough/ Anyway, please review (you know how it inspires me.) /grins again/ Alright, so I was up at three a.m. and I felt like writing… And I had a bit of caffeine-induced hyperness going on… And I ended up writing an exceedingly peculiar omake for this chapter. I thought it was funny, but it was three a.m. And it was a Tuesday.

OMAKE! (begins after Haibara's "who is it, Kudo?" line)

Ayumi: No! H-Haibara! D-don't tell me…

Haibara, mildly concerned: What?

Ayumi: Don't tell me your pet name for Conan is K-Kudo/sobs/

Conan/disturbed silence/

Haibara, feeling mischievous: As a matter of fact, Ayumi-chan… it is.

Ayumi: No! You said you didn't love him… /sob/sniff/

Mitsuhiko: If I wasn't frighteningly polite, like I am, I would be swearing at you, Conan.

Conan/twitch/ … /twitch

Haibara: Ah, that reminds me… /husky voice/ Conan, take me now!

Conan, squeakily: What? Hai-Haibara, we're only 11! 11!

Haibara, purrs: Exactly. You haven't gone through puberty yet!

Conan/faints dead away/

Haibara/steals voice modulator/ In Conan's voice: Ah. I understand. I love you, Ai.

In her own voice: Oh yes! Conan! A/N/cough/ so on and so forth…

Ayumi/lost in her own world of Ayumi/Conan/

Mitsuhiko: Wait… what? I'm so confused… what are you two doing?

Haibara/evil laughter/ wouldn't _you_ like to know.

/phone call ended/

Mitsuhiko: What? I'm _still_ confused.

Elsewhere…

Haibara: … that… amused me

Really elsewhere…

Officer Sato: and _this_ is why I regret wiretapping Conan's cellphone. And the detective office.

…

Ears… so… unclean.

A/N: Liked it? Hated it? And yes, I know that you can't wiretap cellphones. Work with me here. /grins/


	5. Gone

A/N: Ah, man. I've had an exhausting week. And yet, I found time to make a new fanfic-centric LJ for myself. Check it out. 'Tis my homepage. I wrote this chapter hurriedly, so please excuse the typos for now. I'll fix them later… I just figured everyone would prefer a slightly messy chapter, up on time, than a slightly less typo-y chapter, up late. Enjoy!

xXxXxXx

Yoshida Ayumi wasn't happy. Not in any way, shape, or form. Despite Conan's words, despite his not using an honorific on the end of her name, despite everything, she knew there was something going on. His harshness towards Mitsuhiko did nothing to deter her, and did everything to solidify her opinions about his relationship with Haibara. Conan's personality wasn't a harsh one – he would only act like that if he was truly angry. Normally, he would be embarrassed at an accusation like that.

It was Genta-kun's sudden appearance that helped her formulate her plan. This was going to become a case. Conan and Ai-chan had been… kidnapped. Yeah. That would work. She focused for a moment, and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. She masked her smile. She was ready. "Genta-kun!" She cried, getting up and running towards him, "Something terrible has happened!" He looked shocked.

xXxXxXx

Two hours of searching had resulted in a strand of Gin's hair, the addition of several layers of dust to Haibara and Conan's clothing, and an alphabetized Okino Yoko video collection. "That's it," Conan groaned, "that's honestly all there is here."

Haibara sighed. "What did you expect, Kudo? If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: _They work by leaving no clues._"

"I know that" he huffed, "but that's not possible! They can be good, but they're still human. Humans make mistakes. Humans leave clues!" He swore, picked up the soccer ball next to his backpack, and began his infuriating little "keep up" game.

Haibara slumped down on the couch and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. She suddenly had a pounding headache. Kudo looked at her, still bouncing the soccer ball on his knee. "You alright, Haibara?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Kudo. I'm just brilliant. Can't you tell?"

Something inside Conan snapped. He kicked the soccer ball as hard he could in the general direction of his room and swiveled to face Haibara. "You know what?" He snarled, "I don't feel too great either. You wanna know why? Because _your_ bloody organization left no goddamn clues!" He stood there, yelling at her. Which was, frankly, a stupid move.

She stood up quickly, anger flashing in her eyes, and Conan took an involuntary step back. He'd never seen her like this before, but he was too angry to be concerned – for his life or for her.

She knew she shouldn't be standing – this so-called headache was obviously actually a migraine – but she, too, was too angry to be thinking straight. He was still yelling, his words having gone from mostly coherent to entirely incomprehensible. She had no response for his roars. She simply raised her right hand, threatening to slap him. He didn't seem to take notice. If he had, he didn't do anything. She drew back said hand, and had begun to swing it towards his unprotected face when her knees decided to buckle. _Dammit, Kudo, _was her last thought before she passed out.

xXxXxXx

Akai Shuichi, despite his job, didn't like helping people all that much. Why? Because people are, frankly, idiots. They do stupid things, end up hurting other people, who, in turn, hurt others also. He knew that he, too, was human. He also knew that he wished he wasn't one. He stood outside the door of another human. One that wasn't famous, but was powerful. One that wasn't cruel, but certainly wasn't kind.

He raised a fist to knock, and the door swung open. He lowered his fist, and found his eyes to be level with a bushy blonde moustache. "Good morning, James."

The blonde man took a step back. "Ah, Akai! Do come in."

Akai rolled his eyes. "Don't bother to fake the britishness. I know who you are, James."

James Black grinned toothily and waved in the man before him "I take it you have the information I asked for."

Akai yawned and handed over the voice recorder. "I do indeed." With that, he turned to leave, but was abruptly halted by the placement of a hand on his shoulder. He brushed off the hand and turned to face the man behind it to find that the intensity in James's eyes had been turned up several notches.

"Akai," James said, a previously unheard edge to his voice suddenly appearing, "Do you want to see her again or not? I need to know before I assign you to anything."

Akai smirked. "If that's all you wanted to know, then you shouldn't have asked. It isn't time yet." He turned and left, this time with no one stopping him.

James sated at the man's retreating back. _When is the time, Akai,_ he thought, _and when it arrives, will you really tell me?_

xXxXxXx

Conan was watching an unconscious Haibara, guilt splashing about in his mind. _I was the one who caused this; _he thought frantically, _I was the one that made her work while she was sick. Why didn't she tell me she was still sick? Dammit, Haibara. Why do you have to make things so hard on yourself?_

He sighed. She was curled up on he couch, a beige blanket draped over her small frame. There was sweat on her furrowed brow - a clear indication of pain. Conan winced and raised his hands to his temples – he'd always had too much sympathy for people who were ill.

Another sigh. What more could he do? He'd gotten the blanket, placed a glass of water on the table, and moved her to the couch. He felt oddly helpless, and it had nothing to do with Ran having been kidnapped.

He'd found a shoeprint near the door, and several more outside. He knew that they didn't belong to Kogoro, Ran, or any of the clients from previous days, and so he wanted to investigate. But, truth be told, he felt bad about leaving Haibara. He'd done so too many times before. But to stall was to lose the trail – it looked like it was going to rain.

He adjusted his stun-gun wristwatch and made his way to the door with one last glance at the unconscious Haibara. Just as his hand gripped the doorknob, however, he froze. With the tips of his fingers on the cold metal, he turned around slowly. _Haibara…_

He felt a strange twinge in his stomach as he watched a droplet of sweat run down her cheek. It looked like a lone tear, wending its way down her face. His hand dropped from the knob and he walked towards her, an unfamiliar confidence in his stride.

He knelt beside the couch and brushed her wispy bangs back from her burning forehead. Slowly, tenderly, he pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was over quickly – he was in a hurry – but there was no lack of love to it. He stood, and took his glasses off quickly. The idea he'd just had was, perhaps, stupid, but it had worked once before. He would leave his glasses here, and if Haibara wanted to find him, she could. Of course, it had been unintentional last time, but perhaps he was just offloading guilt.

At any rate, he placed his glasses on the table, scribbled a quick note, which he placed on top of them, and raced out the door. He had a certain black organization to catch.

xXxXxXx

"THEY'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED?" Ayumi quickly hushed the roaring boy and nodded vigorously.

"Yeah! We've got to investigate this, but make sure you don't tell anyone else." Ayumi did her best to look somewhere between scared and excited, while Genta-kun just gaped in amazement.

Mitsuhiko approached the two slowly, and hence got to be on the receiving end of Genta's second surprised roar. "DID YOU HEAR THAT? THEY'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED!"

Mitsuhiko did his best to look concerned. "I know! It's terrible! We've got to save Haibara-san!"

With that, the three members of the shonen tantei rushed off, determination on their faces. The teachers they screeched past, however, just looked mildly confused. _When they're not with Edogawa-kun and Haibara-chan,_ one thought, _they're just regular hyperactive children._

Only when they didn't show up for class twenty minutes later did they have cause for concern. If they were out on a "case" without Edogawa-kun and Haibara-chan, all hell could break loose. That, and the school would be the first organization to get sued.

xXxXxXx

When Haibara awoke, still exhausted but no longer in pain, it occurred to her that she'd been waking up after having passed out due to illness far too often lately. _I blame it on the antidote, _she thought, _well, the lack thereof._ It was then that what she was sleeping on wasn't the couch at Agasa's, and the room most certainly wasn't the professor's living room.

The detective agency? Why was she here? Ah, that's it. She'd come here with Kudo to search for clues pertaining to Ran's kidnapping, Kudo had 'accidentally' hit her with a dictionary, they'd kissed, and then they'd fought. That sequence of event reminded her vaguely of a certain Mouri Kogoro's relationship with a certain Kisaki Eri. At any rate, she couldn't remember anything after that… Meaning that, probably, she'd passed out at some point during the fight. She hoped that Kudo had gotten his well-deserved slap, though.

She noticed, after a while, that a light blanket was draped over her and that there was a glass of water sitting on the table, next to which was… Her eyes widened. Conan's glasses. For a terrifying second, she believed that, he, too, had been kidnapped.

She swore, tossed the blanket aside, and grabbed the note resting on top of them. She read it hastily, though it wasn't long. On it was written, in Conan's messy scrawl, "Find me. I know you would anyway."

She blushed, but whatever feeling had caused that to arrive was in the back of her mind. "That idiot!" She snarled, worry and anger swirling in her mind, _I don't believe he could possibly be this stunningly stupid. Baka!_

Nevertheless, she put the glasses on with no lack of tenderness, and quickly assessed the situation. He appeared to be about a mile away, and moving slowly – most likely on foot. She pulled on a jacket and Conan's baseball cap, mentally prepared a list of the nearest taxi stands, and swung open the door, the doorknob of which only narrowly missed decapitating three very annoyed eleven-year-olds.

Haibara froze. The shonen tantei had come to find her, and find her they had. And the questions foremost in their minds were, "Why are you wearing Conan's glasses and hat?" – that from two of them, and "If we solve this can we go out for eel?" – that from the other. Haibara's eye twitched. If the "shonen tantei" could find her, anyone could. This wasn't good at all.

xXxXxXx

Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko had somehow escaped Teitan elementary, and none of them were mourning the fact that they were missing math class to investigate this very personal "kidnapping."

They had gone, first, to Agasa Hakase's house, and had rung the doorbell three times before Agasa had opened the door, looking slightly groggy. Ayumi had only just managed to keep Genta from screeching out that Conan and Haibara had been kidnapped, and instead politely asked if he'd seen them. His answer was a mumbled, "Nope, sorry."

Only half an hour later did it occur to him that Ai-kun and Shinichi should probably be in school, and the shonen tantei most certainly should be. He sighed. This couldn't possibly bode well.

The next stop for the shonen tantei had been the Kudo house, next door. They had once seen Conan enter it, and so assumed that perhaps it was his hideout. They'd gotten Genta to run up to the door, ring the doorbell, and run away. No one answered.

Reluctantly, they went to the detective office. Surely Kogoro would have thrown out Conan and Haibara and forced them to go to school? Well, perhaps he was out. At any rate, just as they were about to knock and find out, the door swung open and they were faced with a stunned-looking Haibara. Specifically, a stunned-looking Haibara wearing Conan's hat and glasses. It was those last two details that enraged a certain two of the group the most.

While Ayumi and Mitsuhiko yelled incoherently about why she was wearing things that belonged to Conan, Genta accused her of having killed Conan. "Oh my God, Haibara! Y- you killed Conan and stole his glasses?" The other two turned slowly to face Genta, the corners of their mouths twitching downwards.

Haibara saw her chance and escaped down the stairs. It was ten minutes later that they realized she was gone. By then, she was in a taxi, and they'd lost the trail. Haibara had underestimated them though – they weren't about to give up.

xXxXxXx

Edogawa Conan had never been so in to a case before. Then again, he'd never been tangled in quite such an intricate web of crime before. He wasn't sure how he was going to get anywhere with as few clues as he had, A lone hair, a few footprints, and Haibara, if she decided to come along.

He had nothing, and yet this was the one case he actually _had_ to solve. If he didn't, the lives of everyone he knew were at stake. His two clues had led him an immensely conspicuous building. Specifically, Tokyo Tower. _How could they be hiding here? _He mused, _Hidden in plain sight, I suppose, but still… This is just overly obvious._

He kicked his skateboard into his grip and strode through the grand glass doors before him. _Surely not… Not here, not now… Where are you, Haibara? Please knock some sense into me before I do something even more idiotic than coming here was._

Haibara, half a mile away in a small taxi, was thinking along similar lines. With more swearwords.

Two people, each an idiot to themselves but not to one another, made their way into greater danger than they usually were. Which wasn't saying much.

xXxXxXx

A/N: Well? I liked this chapter. It had real plot (/shock horror/) And… uh… stuff like that. Sorry, no omake this chapter. I did stay up late this week, but I wasn't in a humorous mood. Chapter six will be up at the usual time.


	6. Eloquent

A/N: Hello again, all. My update isn't quite as late as I thought it might be, so I must say I'm proud. This fic came into existence because someone challenged me to write a multichaptered fic that I'd update every Saturday. I've been fairly successful, no? Anyway, on to the story. (And please leave a review. They make the plot bunnies breed.)

xXxXxXx

Gin took a deep breath, one he coupled with a smile. If, indeed, you could call the cold twisting of his lips a smile. He tasted something upon the air that he hadn't tasted for a long while. _Sherry_. _It has been quite some time. What twist of fate has brought us together again?_

"Aniki?" Vodka shook Gin's shoulder, an unnaturally serious look of worry on his face. "Aniki?"

Gin slapped away his hand with relish. "She's back." Vodka looked confused, but was cut off before he could ask the inevitable question. "Sherry… I can taste her blood already."

Vodka bit his lip. "Aniki? I don't this she's going to come back… I mean, it has been four years since she lef-"

"Baka!" Gin snarled, "Shut up before you hurt yourself. I don't want her to come back. Even if she did, she would still die at my hands, Boss's orders be damned." Vodka winced. Disobeying the Boss meant death. Obviously, Gin's obsession with Sherry hadn't faded with time. _What does Sherry mixed with Gin make, anyway?_

xXxXxXx

Edogawa Conan felt like he should be in a movie. Here he was, the star of an immensely clichéd scene. The little boy, standing bravely just inside the doors of the headquarters of the Organization that kidnapped the girl he loved… Honestly, where were the cameras? He shook his head. What was he doing? He needed to find clues. Anything that could tell him where Ran was. This was to be the most important case of his life, after all. He'd gotten here almost entirely on luck (shoeprints could hardly be called clues, after all) and now he was lost. He needed a hint of some sort – the organization wasn't exactly going to come to him.

He took a deep breath and- got tapped on the shoulder. He whirled around, and was struck by what he saw. This was too cliché for words. There stood the betrayer of the organization he was after, the uncertain friend, the possible love. He gaped. "Hai- Haibara! You came to help me!"

She crossed her arms. "Baka. Whoever said I was here to do that?"

He winced. "W- well, you're wearing my glasses, and my hat… and, uh," he paused, "Well, what else would you be here for?"

She smirked. He was flustered. "Perhaps I'm here on a date." She arched an eyebrow, challenging him to respond once more.

"A date!" He squeaked, his voice cracking unmercifully on the last word. He looked around frantically. "A date with who?"

She only barely refrained from rolling her eyes. For a detective, he was sickeningly gullible. "With Mitsuhiko. Who else would it be, baka?"

He trembled. "But we… at the office… I... you... no. No. Please, no."

Haibara couldn't mask her surprise. Such possessiveness over her? _No!_ She reminded herself sharply, _he's here to save Ran. I'm just the sidekick._ "I… I'm just kidding, baka." She said softly, grabbing hold of his hand, "Let's get to wor-" She was cut off by a presence she feared deeply.

"Well, well… What do we have here? Two little lovebirds, I see." The voice froze them both.

Conan swore. He should have noticed. He shouldn't have let Haibara distract him. He should and shouldn't have done so many things. His grip on Haibara's hand tightened. She was shaking like a leaf.

Haibara's breath froze in her throat, and her grip on Conan's hand slackened. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered that as her grip slackened, his tightened. A peculiar connection had been forged between them, and she'd somehow missed the forging entirely. She didn't care, so long as it was there. "Vermouth," she head Conan say, his voice colder than she'd ever heard it before, "how? Why?"

Cold laughter filled their hearing. "Do you want your Angel back, Cool Guy?"

Conan's grip on Haibara's hand stayed tight. She had expected it disappear entirely. She squeezed back. He didn't need to be reassured often, and now she felt it was her duty to do so. "I do," Conan whispered, "I do."

Vermouth smiled, and, for a second, Conan and Haibara both could have sworn they saw compassion there, in the icy depths of her eyes. As with so many things in their lives, though, as quickly as it had come, it was gone. "Get rid of Gin," Vermouth hissed softly, "Get rid of him and we will all live in better days. Kill him, and the Angel is yours." Vermouth turned on her heel and walked away, her earlier mocking smile replaced with something near sadness. Near, but not quite.

Haibara sensed Conan crumpling beside her. She turned to him, and she felt his grip finally go slack. This time, it was her who grasped his hand. He raised his head and his eyes met hers. For the first time in her memory, she saw tears shining there, in the brilliant cobalt of his eyes. I'm sorry, Kudo." She whispered, and wrapped him in a hug.

Kudo didn't want to kill. She would make sure he wouldn't have to.

xXxXxXx

"So they're going to kill me, huh?"

The voice on the other end of the line cackled unmercifully. "Yes. Just thought I should warn you. It looks like he'll be our silver bullet after all. Have fun in your last moments. I'm sure you'll be happy to see Sherry again."

Gin snapped his phone shut and laughed, ignoring Vodka's worried stare. "So I was right," he hissed, leaning back in the seat of his prized Porsche, "Sherry and Vermouth." He rolled the names around on his tongue, and laughed again. "My little traitors."

Vodka winced. This was crazier than he'd ever seen Gin, and that was saying something. He almost felt sorry for Sherry – and the Silver bullet, whoever he was. Then again, it was something of a competition for who would get killed first – Gin or Vermouth. He had a thousand yen on it being Vermouth. After all, the Boss wasn't happy.

xXxXxXx

Agasa Hiroshi dialed the number to Conan's cell phone again and again, but to no avail. The shonen tantei had called his house again, still looking for Ai-kun and Shinichi. They said they'd found Ai, wearing Conan's glasses and hat, but they'd yet to find Shinichi. It worried him. The two people he'd been trusted to protect were missing without a word. To be entirely honest, he wouldn't mind if they'd disappeared to go off and snog. It would mean that his, ahem, 'matchmaker' attempts had worked. At any rate, something didn't feel right about this whole thing.

He dialed again. Still nothing. _Ai-kun, Shinichi, wherever you are, you'd better be there together. I don't want one of you getting hurt and leaving the other to mourn. You don't deserve that. Hell, I just don't want either of you to get hurt. Your parents would slaughter me, Shinichi, and, believe me, I'm deathly afraid of what your mother would do to me._

Agasa sighed deeply and returned to fiddling with a new invention. _Good luck, to both of you._

xXxXxXx

Conan and Ai stood just outside of Tokyo Tower, against the wall of an alleyway just out of the roaring midday crowds. Their hands were clasped awkwardly, but neither could bring themselves to speak. They'd been assigned a near-impossible task by the last person who should be assigning them anything. Ai squeezed Conan's hand gently and he glanced over at her.

"Kudo-kun," she said softly, rather startled by the sudden lack of hope she saw in his eyes, "How did you find out the hideout was here?"

He blinked. "You knew it was here?" He wasn't trying to pick a fight, but if she'd known the hideout was here… Well, he had a right to be angry.

She sighed. "Kudo, would you mind not accusing me of treachery every twenty seconds?" He blushed slightly, and adopted a sheepish slump. Assured of his silence, she continued, "All I'm asking is how you got here with no clues other than a strand of Gin's hair."

His blush turned a shade darker. As a detective, he should know better than to jump to conclusions. "Well, it was mainly luck…" he looked over at her, and her icy blue eyes shone with skepticism. "Well, that, and a shoeprint."

She raised both her eyebrows ever so slowly. "A shoeprint," she stated flatly.

He nodded. "A shoeprint." He said it with as little emotion as Haibara had, and perhaps with even less conviction.

"You know Kudo," she began, her tender tone from earlier gone. "I think I should be the one accusing you of knowing where the hideout was, and not vice versa."

He laughed nervously, but she could clearly hear the strain behind his chuckles. "Well, I did have my theories… I really intended to just come here and investigate, but…" his face fell, "Vermouth…" He trailed off, and she tightened the grip on his hand once more.

"Gomen nasai ne, Conan-kun." He blushed, ever so slightly, at her words.

After a long silent moment, he leaned over and whispered, "Thanks… Ai," into her ear. He wanted to kiss her on the cheek – he could sense his breath on her face – but he couldn't do it. He was frozen there, between keeping things at a simple 'thank you' or going into uncharted waters.

Ai took the initiative for him, but only after they'd stood there, looking awkward, for almost two minutes. She pulled him towards the street, their hands still clasped, and muttered, "Anytime, Conan."

From his place slightly behind her, Conan realized that Haibara was blushing. That, when nothing else could, made him smile.

xXxXxXx

The shonen tantei weren't happy, or even mildly enthused, but at least they hadn't lost the trail. Conan and Haibara had inadvertently taught them the tricks of the detective trade, and being able to follow cars is one of those tricks. When they finally realized that Haibara had disappeared, they'd rushed downstairs to catch the taillights of a taxi disappearing around the corner. The two boys had rushed blindly after it, while Ayumi flagged down another taxi. She was on a mission, after all.

Halfway down the road the two boys had been sprinting upon, they simultaneously realized that there was no way they were going to catch the taxi that was now out of sight. They sighed dejectedly, and turned around – intending to apologize to Ayumi – only to find that their shared crush wasn't there. In fact, she was almost a mile away, approaching Tokyo tower in the slow Friday traffic. Later, she would be glad that she hadn't been with the boys.

A cold voice rang out, and Mitsuhiko and Genta turned around slowly, sensing every cliché in the book. "Yo, kids," the voice said, seeming unnaturally cheery – it was in no way a voice meant for cheer, "I can help you find your friends."

The two smiled hopefully, (surely this man was an undercover officer?) and began explaining the situation. Suddenly, the blue eyes of the man before them went from warm and inviting to cold and angry. It occurred to them both that they should have been much more cautious as the man snarled, "Good night, idiots."

They tried, desperately, to call out, but to no avail. Hands grabbed them from behind, and covered their mouths with some strange-smelling cloths. As his knees buckled, Mitsuhiko recognized the smell with an inkling of fear. _Chloroform, _he thought,_ this isn't good_. Meanwhile, Genta was already out, peacefully dreaming of giant bowls of eel.

No one was on the empty, rain-drenched street to see it happen. All had gone according to plan.

xXxXxXx

Never say that Agasa Hiroshi isn't a determined man. When it comes to Shinichi and Ai-kun, he likes to think that there isn't any one more determined than he is. He pulled on his jacket and tugged his hat low over his eyes. He was going to find the two of them whether they liked it or not. He'd been friends with a detective and a mystery writer for many years. There was no way he couldn't find two teenagers. Especially when they were trapped in the bodies of two eleven years olds. They were as good as found. At least, he hoped they were. If Yukiko found out, he was quite doomed.

The streets of Beika were empty for a Friday – even a rainy one – but he was glad of it. That way, there was less of a chance that someone had trampled whatever clues were left. Ai-kun had told him that the organization worked by leaving no clues. That doesn't mean that a bunch of eleven year olds were capable of the same thing.

His first stop was the detective office. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was absently glad that he'd made a copy of the key. Of course, back then, it was so he could 'supervise' Ran and Shinichi if they were ever left there alone, but still.

xXxXxXx

Gin stood over his unconscious captives with a look of unholy glee in his eyes. He had a mantra of "Sherry, Vermouth, Sherry, Vermouth…" running in his head, and it was distracting hi from all else. He picked up the fat kid nearest to him, and pulled out a badge from his pocket. He let the kid fall back to the ground unceremoniously and grinned. He intended to have some fun toying with that Conan kid, using these handy little badges.

He laughed. He didn't have the 'classic evil laugh' or even the 'generic evil laugh,' he had a laugh that filled rooms and radiated something beyond evil, beyond cruelty. It was this that made Vodka glad Gin didn't laugh often.

Vodka lit another cigarette and watched as Gin continued with concern in his eyes. There was something fundamentally _wrong_ with this whole situation, but he couldn't figure out what it was. All he knew for sure is that it was going to be a long night.

Suddenly, Gin turned to Vodka, who hastily stood at attention – Gin's expression demanded it, even if the organization didn't. "Hah!" Gin roared, and Vodka twitched, "When that Conan kid is our silver bullet, hell's frozen over, pigs fly, and _I'm dead_."

With that eloquent statement, he burst into laughter again, and Vodka tried not to shudder. Something was very, very wrong here.

xXxXxXx

A/N: Hrm. Well, this chapter has it all: fluff, plot, angst, humour… Uh… Really, I've run out of things to say here. Oh well. Visit my LJ… You may encounter stories that won't be posted here.


End file.
